Meow
by Loralyi
Summary: AU where the boys didn't meet as kids. Now an adult Yamamoto lives by himself when one day a cat appears in his apartment! Rated T for language, and mild mafia violence.
1. Chapter 1

The first day the cat had appeared in his house was a day Yamamoto would never forget. He had been relaxing on his couch watching TV when all of a sudden a cat had popped up and jumped right on his stomach. He had immediately jumped up screaming, because even though he liked cats when one that shouldn't be there suddenly appears and jumps on you, you tend to freak out. The cat had taken off running when he jumped up, and it took him nearly an hour to find the thing again, even in his little apartment.

When he finally found it underneath his couch it didn't want to come out, but as soon as he went to the kitchen to find something a cat would like to eat it was there, rubbing against his legs and purring for food. Laughing he found some fish that the cat took happily.

"Where'd you come from little guy?"

The cat didn't have a collar, but most cats didn't wear them so he still might have a home. Maybe from someone in his complex? He lived on the top floor in a nicer apartment complex home to 6 small house-like apartments. The stairway was open so the cat could have come from anywhere, but it would be easier if he came from the complex.

He was just starting to think about how to find the cats owner when –

"URI?!"

The shout sounded like it came from the apartment across from him, and he had a feeling the cats owner had just realized his cat was missing. He thought about bringing the cat along but decided to leave it in his apartment in case it wasn't his neighbors after all.

"Be right back little guy." He smiled at the cat before heading out the door.

He had never met this neighbor before, they must have conflicting schedules. The voice had sounded male, and definitely worried. What would he be like? Yamamoto knocked on the door, and then knocked again when he got no response. When he still got no response he knocked harder and called out. "Hey, I found a cat and I was wondering if it was yours!"

He heard footsteps coming closer and then the door was flung open and Yamamoto's eyes widened in shock.

In the doorway was the most beautiful person he had ever seen.

The man looked about his age but was shorter by almost a head, and definitely foreign. His hair was silver, and unless his eyebrows were dyed too it looked to be natural. Jade eyes pierced right though him causing him to almost miss what the man said.

"You found my cat?!" The man was thoroughly disheveled, probably from franticly trying to find his cat, and his voice sounded hopeful, and surprisingly without accent.

"Yeah I think so, white and yellow? Red eyes and brown tipped tail?"

"Yes, that's Uri!" The man exclaimed and looked so relieved Yamamoto feared for a second that he might collapse. Instead he recovered and asked, "Where is he?"

"Ahh, across the hall in my apartment."

He led the way over to his apartment and let the man in. The cat was waiting for him at the door with a meow, but upon seeing its owner hissed and ran back into Yamamoto's house.

"URI!" The man yelled and stormed through the house after his cat. Yamamoto blinked in surprise but just stepped in and closed the door so the cat couldn't get out. Though he still was unsure how the cat got in in the first place. Was one of his windows open maybe? He went to go check his windows when he heard a loud yell of pain come from somewhere in his house. Maybe he should help instead. As he turned around to go find them the cat came running toward him and he quickly scooped it up as it tried to run past.

"Woah there little guy." The cat glared at him but didn't resist, and a few seconds later his owner entered the room panting with a nasty scratch on his cheek that was starting to slowly drip blood.

"Are you okay?" Yamamoto asked with concern.

"Huh, oh yeah." The man stepped forward to take his cat and it begrudgingly allowed itself to be taken.

"Thanks for uh, finding my cat" He said not quite meeting Yamamoto's gaze.

"Oh no, he somehow got in and then I heard your yell. It was nothing." Yamamoto smiled and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, thanks anyway." The silverette bowed and left, and it wasn't until he heard his door close that Yamamoto jumped and raced after him. He caught him just as the man was walking into his own apartment.

"Hey, what's your name?" He called, breathing a little hard.

The man jumped a little and turned around, eyes wide and questioning.

"Oh, um, it's Gokudera." Gokudera replied quietly.

"I'm Yamamoto, Yamamoto Takeshi." Yamamoto grinned.

Gokudera had nodded and disappeared into his apartment, but Yamamoto could swear he had seen a pink tint to those cheeks, other than from the scratch.

They hadn't seen each other since, but Yamamoto hadn't been able to get his neighbor out of his head after that day. Yamamoto hadn't ever fallen for someone before. He had gone out with a few girls before but never anything serious and they had happened mostly because he was bad at saying no. He had never really been particularly attracted to anyone before, guy or girl, but this guy was drop dead gorgeous. He wanted to walk across and knock on his door, but what would he say? Hey I think you're super cute and I just want to talk to you? He sighed, no that would be really creepy. But their schedules still didn't seem to line up and it was just like before where they had zero contact. And then it happened.

The cat got in again. This time he had been in the kitchen when he suddenly felt something rubbing against his leg.

"Uri-chan?!"

The cat meowed up at him happily, and for a moment Yamamoto seriously wondered how the cat got in again. And then he realized that he had a reason to talk to Gokudera again.

"Uri-chan!" He exclaimed happily and scooped the cat up. It meowed happily back and he immediately retrieved some fish for his new favorite animal. The cat purred and licked its mouth after eating the fish. Yamamoto didn't know how the cat kept getting in, but he was definitely going to encourage it. With Uri still in his arms he headed to Gokudera's apartment and knocked on the door.

A very disgruntled Gokudera opened the door, but his face immediately softened when he recognized who it was.

"Yamamoto-san?" Yamamoto's knees went weak at the thought that Gokudera had remembered his name.

"Mm. Uri-chan got in my house again." He laughed and nodded to the cat in his arms.

"Oh!" Gokudera exclaimed, shocked to see his cat in Yamamoto's arms. "I didn't even know he was gone."

"I just found him, he probably wasn't gone long." Yamamoto replied handing the angry cat to its owner. Gokudera had been holding him for less than a second when it bit his hand. Gokudera hissed in pain and dropped the cat who promptly sped off into its apartment.

"Damn cat." Gokudera said brining his hand to his mouth. Yamamoto chuckled softly.

"You two don't seem to get along. Why do you keep him?" He was very thankful to the cat, but he still worried about the two of them with such a relationship.

"He has his moments." The silverette replied with a bit of affection, and Yamamoto's worries immediately disappeared.

"Mmm, yeah he's really sweet when he breaks into my apartment." He laughed.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. I don't know how he keeps getting out."

"Haha, I don't know how he keeps getting in either."

There was an awkward moment where neither of them really knew what to say. Gokudera stared at the ground trying not to blush and Yamamoto was unsuccessfully trying to look anywhere but at him.

"So,"

"What's your name?" Yamamoto blurted out, accidently cutting Gokudera off. But he had a feeling the man was about to escape back into his house, and of all the things Yamamoto wanted to know that was at the top of his list.

Raising an eyebrow Gokudera looked him over, as if trying to figure out why the other could want that information and whether or not he wanted to share it.

"Hayato." He finally replied after deciding. "Umm, I have things to do so…"

"Oh, right. Sorry for keeping you." Yamamoto smiled to hide his embarrassment.

"S'fine, thanks for brining Uri back again."

"It's no problem."

They sat in another awkward silence for a few seconds before Gokudera turned to walk back into his house. The door had almost closed when Yamamoto thought of something.

"You can drop the –san."

Gokudera paused and turned back around. "What?"

"You called me Yamamoto-san, you can drop the honorifics."

A definite blush splashed across Gokudera's face before he nodded and quickly closed the door. Yamamoto chuckled to himself as he stared at the door. _How cute._

It was almost a full month later and Yamamoto hadn't seen the cat or its owner. He had gotten into the habit of leaving his windows open and leaving fish out for the cat. Uri had gotten in without his help before, but he was desperate. He knew that he could just walk across and talk to his neighbor, but he didn't know anything about him except his name and that his cat was an escape artist. What could they talk about? And what if he came across as creepy or clingy, he didn't want that. So he waited as patiently as he could for the little cat to come back.

It was late, almost 11:30, and he had just turned off the TV and was heading to his bedroom for the night when he heard a knock on his door. _Who would be here at this time?_ He turned and shuffled toward his front door turning the lights back on as he went. When he opened the door his jaw went slack with surprise before a large grin took over his face.

"Gokudera! What brings you here this late?"

The man looked tired and glared slightly at Yamamoto's grin as if he were being too bright for this time of the night.

"I think Uri's gone again so I figured I would come over and see if he's here." The silverette explained.

"Oh, I haven't seen him but he might be here, want to come in and look?" Yamamoto offered and stepped back from the door way. The shorter man nodded and stepped past Yamamoto and headed toward the kitchen when Yamamoto stopped him.

"Oh, um, he's normally in the living room you should check there first."

Gokudera nodded and changed direction to head into the living room. Yamamoto sighed in relief, that could have been embarrassing. What would he think if he saw the cat food laid out? Yamamoto went into the kitchen to hide the evidence when he found that the plate he had left on the floor for Uri was empty. The little cat must be here after all. Picking up the plate and setting it on the counter he moved back to the living room and found Gokudera on his hands and knees looking under the couch.

"Any luck?"

The tired man looked up and shook his head.

"Nope, you?"

"No but I do think he's here."

"What makes you so sure?"

Yamamoto looked away and rubbed the back of his neck. "Just a hunch."

Gokudera 'tched' and went back to searching for his cat. Escaping the living room Yamamoto went to look through the rest of his house. Turning on the light in his bedroom he paused before smiling and calling over his shoulder, "Found him!" Gokudera showed up beside him shortly and paused before smiling too.

The little yellow and white cat was curled up on Yamamoto's bed purring away in his sleep. Yamamoto wondered how long the little cat had been there and was glad Gokudera had caught him before he got into bed or he might have accidently sat on the little fluff ball.

"See, he has his moments." Gokudera said affectionately and Yamamoto nodded in agreement. He glanced over to the shorter man and that was when he realized that there were not only one, but two silver rings in the silverettes ear.

Without thinking the raven lifted his hand to move the silver hair so he could get a better look. "Your ears are pierced?" He questioned curiously.

The shorter man flinched and slapped the intruding hand away. "Yeah, what's it to ya?" he replied defensively.

Yamamoto dropped his hand and smiled. "They suit you." He answered sincerely.

A soft blush began to creep onto Gokudera's cheekbones before he turned away to walk back through the house.

"If you don't mind I'll leave him here for the night, I'll come get him in the morning."

"Sure, I leave for work at 8:30 so come any time before that." Yamamoto grinned and followed, not only did he not mind but this meant he would get to see Gokudera in the morning too!

He caught up to Gokudera at his front door where the other had paused and waited for him.

"Well, I guess I'll see you in the morning then." The silverette said with an air of goodbye. Yamamoto's smiled widened the most it had that night.

"Mm, see you then. Goodnight!"

The color that had been receding returned in full force on the silverettes cheeks and he nodded before turning swiftly and quickly walked back to his apartment and disappeared.

Yamamoto swore he had heard a soft mumbled 'goodnight' before the door had closed.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Yamamoto woke up a full hour before his alarm clock. And for once he didn't mind. The little cat was still laying on the bed beside him and meowed happily when it saw he was awake.

"Morning Uri-chan." Yamamoto smiled and reached over to rub the soft fur of its head. It purred appreciatively before standing up and walking over Yamamoto and hopping lightly off the bed. It paused in the doorway and meowed back at him as if asking him to follow.

"Alright alright I'm coming." Yamamoto laughed pulling the blanket off and swinging his legs off the bed and onto the floor. He stretched groaning before standing up and following the cat into his kitchen where it meowed for breakfast. Normally Yamamoto didn't eat much for breakfast, but he was up so early he decided to make a bigger breakfast. Maybe he could share it with Gokudera when he came. Yamamoto smiled to himself at that and wondered what the man would like as he searched through his fridge.

After giving Uri some fish and getting dressed for the day he went to work making veggie omelets and rice. Simple, but it sounded good and most people liked them. That and he didn't have many ingredients in his house, even though he liked to cook, he tended to make more sushi than anything else.

It was almost 8 when he finished making breakfast and about to start eating when he heard a knock at his front door. Grinning he stood and walked quickly to his front door with Uri following at his ankles.

"Morning!" He greeted as he opened the door. Uri hissed upon seeing who was there and stalked back into the apartment.

"Mornin." Gokudera replied gruffly. His hair was tied back in a tiny ponytail and a cigarette hung between his lips, wisps of smoke curling into the morning air. Yamamoto curled his nose instinctively.

"You smoke? He questioned as he stepped back and welcomed his guest in.

"Yeah, have since I was a kid." The smoker replied as he passed by into the house.

"Really? Your parents let you?" Yamamoto questioned as he closed the door. Gokudera paused, and Yamamoto thought his back looked stiff and wished he could see what kind of face he was making.

"No." Gokudera answered shortly and continued into the house, and Yamamoto felt he said something he shouldn't have. He followed and hoped he hadn't ruined the mood for the whole morning.

"Omelets?" Gokudera asked when he entered the kitchen.

"Mm, you want one?" Yamamoto offered.

Gokudera started to say something, but then looked away and merely nodded and sat down at the table. Yamamoto was a little confused but happily made the silverette a plate of food while trying to ignore the smell of cigarette.

After setting a plate of food in front of his guest he settled down himself and began to eat. His food was cold now after having been on his plate for so long but it was worth it. Gokudera pinched out his cigarette with his fingers before starting to eat. Swallowing Yamamoto asked, "Didn't that hurt?"

The smoker shrugged, "Not really." And continued eating. The raven couldn't believe that it didn't hurt but shrugged it off and continued to eat. Even though he would like this breakfast to last he had to leave for work soon. After a few moments of silence except for chewing, Gokudera cleared his throat. "You're a good cook." He complimented monotonely, not lifting his eyes from his plate.

"Thanks! My dad owns a sushi restaurant so I've been cooking since I was little." Yamamoto grinned.

"I see." Gokudera glanced up at the ravens grinning face and quickly turned back to his food.

"What do you do?" Yamamoto asked between bites of food. He didn't have much time but he wanted to learn as much as he could about his beautiful neighbor.

"Ahh, well, I…freelance." Gokudera answered slowly.

"Freelance what?"

"Services."

Yamamoto wanted to keep asking but had a feeling this was another thing the silverette didn't want to talk about. That made him all the more curious though.

"What do you do?"

His eyes widened at hearing the question, he didn't expect Gokudera to care. Though by the look on his face maybe he was just trying to change the subject. Either way Yamamoto was happy.

"Oh, in the mornings I help out at my dad's shop and in the afternoons I coach middle school baseball."

Laughing Gokudera asked, "You like kids huh? Shoulda known."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yamamoto asked with a mock offended tone but a smile on his face.

"Just that you seem like a big softie." Gokudera teased.

"Ehhh?" Yamamoto whined before laughing. "Yeah I guess I am huh?"

Gokudera started to laugh when his face dropped. "Didn't you say you had to leave at 8:30?"

Head snapping toward the clock Yamamoto jumped up from the table, it was 8:29.

"Shit."

"Heh, the softie can swear?" Gokudera teased. Yamamoto flashed him a quick smirk as he quickly took care of the leftover food. When he finished Gokudera was gone and he assumed he had gone to find his cat.

"Damn it come here you – I don't have time for this!" Rang through the apartment and was followed by angry cat noises and the thumping of cat and human feet. Yamamoto laughed and went to help. He found the angry pair in his room with Uri having gotten on the shelf in his closet and Gokudera on his tip-toes trying to reach him. Yamamoto was hit with a wave of cute at the sight but quickly shook his head and stepped over.

"Here let me." Gokudera settled on his feet and turned to him.

"No I've got this, you're gonna be late." He argued. Yamamoto smiled and shook his head.

"I'm already late, this will just take a second." He insisted and reached for the cat. It glared at him but allowed itself to be grabbed and handed over.

"Are you a cat whisperer or something?" Gokudera asked as he took Uri making Yamamoto laugh.

"No, though I am good with animals."

"You seem to be good at everything."

"I try." Gokudera scowled at that but Yamamoto just laughed.

"Don't you have to go?"

"Shit!" Yamamoto ran through the house, grabbing his keys and began pulling on his shoes. Following behind at a normal pace Gokudera singlehandedly pulled his own shoes on while trying to keep the squirming Uri in his grasp. They walked out the door and Yamamoto quickly locked and shut it and took off down the stairs, calling a "See ya later" over his shoulder. He was half way down the stairs when he paused and turned back.

"Gokudera?" The man appeared at the top of the stairs looking down at him questioningly.

"Wanna do dinner sometime? My treat." The shorter man looked as if he didn't know how to react. His mouth opened but then closed and he nodded instead of verbally answering. The grin that took over Yamamoto's face was blinding.

"Great, we can work out the details later. Bye!" He had started running again before he had finished speaking, because as much as he didn't want to leave, his father was about to rip him a new one.

"Where the hell have you been?" Tsuyoshi yelled at his son in favor of a greeting.

"Sorry pops something came up, won't happen again!" Yamamoto apologized as he pulled on his work apron.

"Damn right it won't." His father answered shortly, but the older man's expression softened as he looked at his son. Though flustered from running and thoroughly guilty, the younger man was radiating even more than usual. His father was curious but needed his son to get to work now, and knew that his son would tell him when he saw fit.

The sun was low in the sky as Yamamoto was walking home for the day. His father had worked him to the bone, and since he had also woken up early that morning by the time he got to practice he had been exhausted. Now that practice was finally over all he wanted to do was shower and crawl into his bed and stay there until tomorrow. And then he remembered the cause of his exhaustion and perked back up.

He had said yes, Gokudera had said yes to going to dinner with him! He still couldn't believe it, and if it weren't for how sore and exhausted he was he would swear he was dreaming. When would they get to go? What would they eat? Would they go out? Or maybe eat in since Gokudera had liked his cooking. But most importantly, was this a date?

Because to Yamamoto it was, that was what he intended when he asked. But what if Gokudera hadn't thought of it that way? Maybe he thought they were just going out as friends, or even just acquaintances. Shaking his head Yamamoto put a stop to those thoughts. He would just read the atmosphere and act accordingly, that would probably be the least embarrassing thing to do. He hoped.

And in any case this would be a chance to get to know his neighbor better. To have the time to actually talk without one of them needing to leave right away.

The smell of cigarette smacked him in the face when he opened his door. Scrunching up his nose he headed to his kitchen where he found Gokudera's cigarette from this morning, he most have forgotten it in their rush. It hadn't been completely put out before and had slowly smoldered into a pile of ash on his kitchen table. Sighing Yamamoto swept it into the trash and admired the burn mark on his table. Honestly he was lucky in was plastic and metal and not wood or his apartment might have been gone. He wanted to be angry but just couldn't be, it had been an accident and besides, the burn mark was now a reminder that this morning had happened.

Though he still wished his crush didn't have such a nasty habit.

While taking a shower he tried to plan for their dinner. It was Thursday so maybe they could go tomorrow night or the night after. He wished he had thought to ask for a phone number, he felt weird walking over just to plan out the next time they would hang out. But for now it couldn't be helped. And honestly he did like the thought of getting to see his gorgeous neighbor in person.

After drying off and pulling on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt he headed over to work out the details of their dinner date. Once stepping outside he realized that the sun had already set and the sky was quickly turning dark. He hoped it wasn't too late to come over. Looking through the window it looked as if all the lights were off, and after his knocking and calling out received no answer he figured his neighbor wasn't home.

Yamamoto wasn't entirely sure what to do. He always randomly saw Gokudera, and even though he wanted this dinner to be as soon as possible he had just said 'sometime' so Gokudera probably didn't feel a rush to contact him. Rubbing the back of his neck Yamamoto sighed as he stared down the door. Maybe they would run into each other in the morning? Or this weekend, though he really didn't want to wait that long. Then with an 'Aha!' Yamamoto raced back into his apartment, found a pencil and paper, and quickly wrote a note explaining that he had missed him tonight and wanted to work out the details of their dinner ASAP. Grabbing some tape as he left his apartment again he strolled back over and stuck the note to his neighbors' door. Satisfied he returned home and finished his nightly routine.

The next morning the note remained untouched, and all day Yamamoto fretted that Gokudera would miss it and his message would go unnoticed. However his fears were unnecessary for when he returned home that night his note was now taped to his door with a phone number scribbled at the bottom. Grinning widely he carefully plucked the note from his door and pulled out his phone as he entered his house, quickly plugging the numbers into his contact list. He quickly sent a text asking when a good day for dinner was and that he would prefer tonight or tomorrow.

It wasn't until he was half asleep in bed that his phone went off, but Yamamoto was instantly awake and reaching for his phone

 _Obviously can't do tonight, but I guess I'm free tomorrow after 6:30._

Yamamoto grinned at his phone and quickly typed a reply.

 _Great, see you at 7 then!_

A few moments of silence later Yamamoto decided to go back to sleep when his phone went off again. Jumping back up he quickly read the short message.

 _Yeah_

Yamamoto laughed to himself as he settled back down, he could basically see the blush on those pale cheeks.

All the next day Yamamoto was nothing but excited, and it wasn't until it became time to get ready for the night did he start to worry. He had no idea where they were going to eat let alone what kind of date this was. How should he be dressed? Deciding on a nicer casual outfit of jeans and a button-down, he began to pace his room. It was only six and he had way too much time to think about all of the uncertainties of the night, he really needed to think before he acted in the future. Sighing he moved to the living room and turned on the TV to the sports channel, there was nothing to do about his worries now so he might as well let baseball distract him for a while.

When 6:45 came around even baseball could no longer hold his attention so he turned the TV off. Feeling the need to pace but not wanting to he stood and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth again. He didn't know where this nervousness was coming from, he wasn't really the type to get nervous. Gokudera brought out a lot of new things in him.

As he was brushing he heard a quiet knock on his front door. Spitting quickly he called out, "Be right there!" Finishing up and giving himself a quick once over in the mirror and then forced himself to walk not run to his front door, smiling wide before even reaching it.

"Gokudera!" He greeted cheerily. His smile quickly fell upon seeing said man. "What's wrong?"

Gokudera was dressed casually in battered jeans and a red hoodie. His silver hair was down and covering his face slightly, but not enough to cover his troubled expression. His brows were furrowed and he kept worrying his bottom lip, his eyes dark and staring at the floor. They looked up at Yamamoto's question.

"I don't think this is a good idea."


	3. Chapter 3

"What do you mean?" Yamamoto didn't understand, Gokudera had seemed plenty willing to go before.

"It's just, "Gokudera paused and looked away, and Yamamoto got the feeling the other was hiding something. Clearing his throat Gokudera continued. "I'm not really one to do the whole friends thing, and I don't plan on starting now." Yamamoto tried to cut in but Gokudera spoke first. "Look you seem like a nice guy but-"

"Just one night!" Yamamoto bowed as low as he could. "Please!"

He watched Gokudera's feet as he fidgeted in place. Whether or not there was some truth to what Gokudera had claimed, he knew that something else was at play here. Maybe he was being selfish, but he wasn't going to let him escape without a fight.

It was taking him a long time to answer though and Yamamoto was starting to get nervous. And a bit uncomfortable still bowing. He was about to right himself and apologize when,

"Ok."

It was no more than a mumble, but Yamamoto had heard it easily. Standing up straight so fast he almost threw out his back he grinned widely at Gokudera.

"Really?!"

Gokudera looked away, tucking some of his bangs behind his ear.

"Sure why not. Don't blame me when things go bad."

In response Yamamoto's grin widened as if he had only heard the first sentence. Rolling his eyes Gokudera asked shortly,

"So where are we going?"

Faltering at this Yamamoto laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know."

Gokudera looked like he was seriously considering walking away.

"Ah! I know! There's this little restaurant a couple blocks away, they serve a bit of everything so you should be able to find something you like." He had originally hoped for something a bit nicer, but considering their outfits and the mood of the evening so far he figured this was better. And something in Gokudera's expression earlier made him think he wanted to stay close to home for some reason.

With a 'tch' Gokudera backed out of the doorway in a 'lead the way' type gesture. Yamamoto started to when he realized he didn't have his shoes on. Or have his wallet. Or keys.

"Ahh, just give me a minute!"

Gokudera sighed exaggeratedly as he hurried back into his apartment to grab his things. While fetching his wallet in his room his bat bag caught his eye. Inside was Shigure Kintoki, the sword he had inherited from his dad. He hadn't practiced with it in a while and he normally didn't give it a second thought. But the look in Gokudera's eyes earlier made him pick the bag up and swing it over his shoulder. Just in case, he thought to himself.

When he came back the silverette was looking more like himself again. Pulling on his jacket Yamamoto smiled softly at the sight and hurried out the door.

"Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

Yamamoto laughed at the grumbling tone.

"What's that?" Gokudera was looking pointedly at his bat bag.

"Ahh, my bat bag." He hoped Gokudera wouldn't ask too much about it.

"You really are weird you know that?"

Laughing at the statement and in relief Yamamoto agreed and began toward the stairs.

"Shall we go?"

The walk to the restaurant was quick and quiet. Yamamoto would try and start up a conversation every few moments, but Gokudera seemed distracted and kept looking over his shoulder. It made Yamamoto nervous and he kept on guard as well, but as far as he could tell there was nothing out of the ordinary. Once inside the little restaurant Gokudera visibly relaxed, and Yamamoto let out air he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

The restaurant was small but with a homey feel, most of the patrons were older folks or families with kids. They were seated in a back corner booth that was a bit further away from the other patrons. Gokudera sat facing toward the rest of the room and toward the door forcing Yamamoto to put his back to the room. Part of him wanted to continue being on the lookout for whatever it was, but he really doubted anything would happen here and Gokudera was obviously more comfortable this way.

After the waitress handed them the menus and left one of the smaller children nearby started to cry over something. The piercing wails filled the room as its' parents tried to comfort it. Gokudera huffed heavily while looking over the menu, one of his eyebrows twitching in annoyance.

"Not a kid person?" Yamamoto asked with a small laugh.

"Not really." He replied through gritted teeth. Chuckling some more Yamamoto went back to his menu. Soon enough the child was calmed and the noise in the room returned to normal. Deciding what he wanted he looked back up to Gokudera who was still looking at the menu. He wanted to think of something to say but instead got caught up admiring the man across from him again. His expression was still a bit frustrated, his eyebrows furrowing and he was biting at his lower lip again. Yamamoto almost laughed because he was pretty sure that expression was being caused by just deciding on what to eat, and that was just so _adorable_. But instead of laughing he was caught up in wanting to touch that silvery hair that was falling in front of those captivating green eyes. What would it feel like? He wondered. It took a lot of restraint on his part to not reach forward and find out.

Then those striking eyes were looking into his own, and it wasn't until they looked away that Yamamoto realized he was staring and looked away himself.

"What are you looking at?"

"Just," Yamamoto paused, not quite sure what he wanted to say. "if you don't mind me asking, you're foreign right?"

Gokudera blinked at him in a bit of shock for a moment before he answered. "Yeah, I'm Italian. I've lived here since I was a kid though."

"Oh, so that's why you don't have any accent." Gokudera merely shrugged,

"I guess."

"Do you miss Italy?"

"Not really."

"Can you still speak Italian?"

"Among other things." Yamamoto's was getting excited but before he could ask his next question he was cut off by the waitress coming back for their orders. She had barely left before he tried starting his question when he was interrupted again.

"Okay! Enough about me, let's hear about you for a while."

He was pretty sure it was just to steer the conversation away from himself, but Yamamoto was still thrilled that Gokudera wanted to hear more about him. Instantly he launched into a brief description of himself that quickly turned into a rant about his love of baseball. Yamamoto felt he should stop, that Gokudera couldn't care less, but despite rolling eyes and drumming fingers the other man seemed to finally be relaxing. The small airy laughs and soft glances that escaped that irritated façade egged him on as well, with every one making his heart soar.

When they were halfway through their meals and Yamamoto was still talking about baseball Gokudera suddenly began chuckling, trying to stifle it with his hand over his mouth. Yamamoto paused and cocked his head to the side, he hadn't thought he'd said anything funny. At seeing the confused expression Gokudera swallowed his laughter, "You really are a baseball idiot aren't you?" He asked breathily with a warm smile. Yamamoto laughed in response and rubbed his neck, "Yeah I kind of am aren't I? I've loved baseball for as long as I can remember. Nothing else has ever really come close. Well, until recently that is."

"Oh really? And what could that be?" Gokudera asked with disbelieving sarcasm.

"Well, I think I've fallen in love."

"Oh? Did you find your baseball idiotess?" He sneered. Yamamoto laughed.

"No, I don't think he cares much for baseball."

"Hoh? A guy? I wouldn't have pegged you that way."

"I'm not really any way, I wasn't really interested in anything besides baseball before, but then I saw him and well…" Yamamoto rubbed his neck, it was awkward admitting your feelings to someone without actually telling them who you were talking about. But he still wasn't sure where Gokudera stood on the subject, especially since he had apparently thought he was straight.

"Huh. Must be nice."

"Are you interested in anyone?"

At this Gokudera leaned back, crossing his arms and looking away. "Not really. And even if I was it would be impossible with my job."

"I'm sure it wouldn't be impossible."

"No, it would." He said it sternly, but there was an underlying sadness that made Yamamoto want to prove him wrong.

An awkward silence fell over them as they finished their meals. When the waitress came back for the check Gokudera reached for his wallet but Yamamoto stopped him.

"My treat."

"You don't have to-"

"I want to!" He grinned, and Gokudera put his wallet away with a huff and grumbled something about paying him back.

The sky was growing dark and the air cool when they left the restaurant. The awkward tension from dinner was gone but replaced with Gokudera's previous nervousness which was back in full force once they stepped outside. He seemed even more on edge now, presumably because it was getting dark. Yamamoto tried to lighten the mood with mindless chatter, but something felt wrong. Maybe it was just Gokudera's agitation getting to him, but it was really starting to feel like someone was following them.

Gokudera put a cigarette to his lips, quickly lighting it while his eyes scanned the street completely tuning out Yamamoto's rambles. At some point Yamamoto's voice stopped as his attention was fully on locating whoever was watching them. His hand found its way to the opening of his bat bag, ready to reach inside and grab his sword if necessary.

They were halfway home and in a particularly dark area, and just as they began to pass an alley between buildings their pursuer slipped, and Yamamoto felt their presence. In a flurry of movement his sword was drawn and held to the man's throat. The man was slightly shorter than him and seemed to be older, dressed in dark shabby clothing and smelled a bit now that Yamamoto was right next to him. The man dropped the gun he had been holding and held up his hands in surrender. _Coward_ Yamamoto thought.

"What the hell?!"

Yamamoto looked up to see Gokudera still on the street openly gaping at him, cigarette falling out of his mouth and landing at his feet. Something was sparking in his right hand.

"What's that in your hand?"

Still gaping Gokudera looked down at his hand before realizing what he was holding. "Shit!" He quickly reached over with his other hand and pinched out the spark.

"What is that?" Yamamoto asked again.

"What is THAT?!" Gokudera yelled back gesturing to Yamamoto's sword.

"Oh, this is Shigure Kintoki." He answered simply, twisting the sword slightly so that it brushed against his hostage's neck who promptly yelped in fear. Shaking his head exasperatedly Gokudera stomped into the alley.

"Never mind we have other things to worry about. What family are you with?" He directed the last sentence to the man who was now shaking, but before he could say anything a voice called out from behind them.

"He's with the Carcassa Famiglia." Yamamoto turned himself and the man to see who was there. Out of the darkness stepped two men. One tall, wrapped in a black suit with a black fedora tilted over his face and whose entire presence screamed dangerous; the other was short with soft brown hair pointing in every direction. At first glance he seemed harmless, but Yamamoto got a feeling that he wasn't to be messed with either.

"Reborn! Juudaime!" Gokudera bowed in greeting. "What are you doing here?"

"We got some info that they would be making a move today, and Tsuna wanted to take care of it for you." The taller man replied.

"I didn't want him ruining your date, though we seemed to have failed a bit on that part." The shorter man continued, supposedly named Tsuna, and glared at his companion who shrugged.

"That kid looked promising and I wanted to see what he would do. And look I was right." He replied with an approving look at Yamamoto. Before he could consider what was being said however Gokudera began mumbling behind him.

"We're not, it's not, a date." He stumbled over his words, staring at the concrete and Yamamoto swore he saw a blush being hidden by silver hair. The other three laughed and the man Yamamoto was restraining seemed to have thought they had forgotten about him and tried to make an escape. Instantly Yamamoto's sword was pressed against his throat, along with Reborn's gun pointed straight at his head. The man shrieked but held still once more.

"We'll take care of him." Reborn stated and stepped forward to grab the man's arm and started to pull him down the alley. Tsuna started to follow before turning back.

"Sorry for interrupting!"

"Yeah, you can go finish your date now!" Reborn called over his shoulder.

"It's not a date!" Gokudera yelled back but the other two merely laughed before disappearing back into the darkness, leaving Gokudera and Yamamoto alone again.

Placing Shigure Kintoki back into his bat bag Yamamoto turned back to Gokudera. "So, you're in the mafia?"

Gokudera composed himself before speaking. "Well, sort of. I'm not a part of any family, though lately I've been pretty close with the Vongola. My old man is a mafia boss so I grew up with it." He admitted, not looking Yamamoto in the eye. "But anyway what's with that sword?! Where the hell did that come from?!" He exclaimed finally looking up. Yamamoto laughed.

"Ahh, I got it from my dad. He learned it when he was my age and wanted me to learn it too. It's kinda fun, though I obviously prefer baseball." At the last part Gokudera gave him a look of disgusted disbelief before laughing and rolled his eyes.

"Only you."

Yamamoto laughed and gestured back toward the street. "Shall we head home?" Gokudera nodded in agreement and they walked back to the street and continued their walk home in higher spirits now that they were no longer being followed.

"So what was that in your hand?" Yamamoto asked after a bit.

"Huh? Oh, dynamite."

"Dynamite?!"

"Yeah, it's my weapon of choice." Gokudera answered as if that were a completely normal thing to say. "They call me the Smokin' Bomb" He bragged, a proud smile on his face that was so cute it made Yamamoto's heart melt. But soon that smile fell and a thoughtful look took its place. Yamamoto stayed quiet and let him think.

"So," He finally spoke, "You're not freaked out by me being in the mafia?" He asked nervously.

Yamamoto thought about that for a minute. "Not really. I mean I knew something was up by the way you were acting. It's actually kind of a relief knowing that you can take care of yourself." He teased.

"Hey what is that supposed to mean?" Gokudera shoved him. Yamamoto just laughed in response. They finally made it to their complex and started up the stairs.

"Sorry about them, they were just teasing me." Gokudera said quietly.

"Huh? About what?"

"You know, about the date, thing." They reached the top of the stairs and stood on the landing between their apartments. Yamamoto laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah about that, I had been kinda hoping that that was what this was actually." He admitted. He felt like now was the perfect time to say it, and that he would regret it later if he said otherwise. Immediately Gokudera's face flushed deep red and he became flustered.

"Wait, what?! But I thought, what about that guy you're in love with?" Yamamoto felt heat rising to his cheeks and brought his hand up to cover his face.

"Actually, I had been talking about you." He admitted. Gokudera's jaw dropped and his face somehow managed to become redder.

"But, I, I'm, wait, no, what?" Gokudera floundered.

Yamamoto waved his hands to stop him. "Don't worry about it I wasn't really expecting much from this. I really just wanted to get to know you! Even though we live right across the hall we hardly ever see each other. I don't expect you to feel the same." He couldn't completely keep his voice neutral and it fell during that last sentence. Gokudera looked at a loss for words and Yamamoto sighed, this was not how this night was supposed to go. Turning he started to leave, a goodbye on his lips, when there was a tug on his arm. Freezing he looked down to see a slender hand clasping his wrist.

"Wait."

Yamamoto didn't move, was scared that if he did Gokudera would change his mind, his voice had sounded so uncertain. And so he waited there with his back to Gokudera, waited for him to think and decide what he wanted to say.

"But, I'm involved with the mafia." He finally spoke, and it was so far off what Yamamoto had been expecting that he laughed.

"I think I proved today that I can take care of myself."

Gokudera laughed softly in agreement before going quiet again. "But I'm just, me." He said quietly. Yamamoto turned around and reached up to hold Gokudera's cheek.

"Just 'you', is everything I have ever wanted. From the first time I saw you I couldn't get you out of my head. Not a minute has gone by since that I haven't thought about you."

Gokudera's eyes widened, searching his face for a lie. Not finding one he looked away, but leaned into Yamamoto's hand.

"You're embarrassing." He grumbled, a tiny smile fighting its way onto his face. Yamamoto grinned.

"Just being honest." Gokudera rolled his eyes.

"Stupid baseball idiot."

Yamamoto's laugh was softer this time as he leaned down, closing the space between them.

"Hey, can I kiss you?"

Eye's widening Gokudera became flustered, his mouth opening and closing without any words forming. Finally he snapped it shut, squeezed his eyes closed and nodded fervently. Chuckling softly Yamamoto leaned in and bumped their noses together and rubbed his thumb across the soft cheek. Gokudera opened his eyes and relaxed, though his breathing was still fast and heavy. He searched those pretty jade eyes for any sign that he was forcing this, but they looked just as ready as he felt. And then their lips met and those pretty eyes closed again, this time in content and a soft sigh tickled his face. Smiling into the kiss Yamamoto's eyes closed as well, and then there was nothing but Gokudera. It felt even more amazing than he had ever dreamed, and without realizing it his other arm had wrapped itself around his waist pulling Gokudera closer. They parted for a moment before their lips found each other again, Gokudera's hands wound up his chest and wrapped around his neck and he leaned up on his tip toes to deepen the kiss. The rest of the world was nonexistent, it was just the two of them. Until-

"Meow?"

"Uri?! How the fuck do you keep getting out!?"

-The End-


End file.
